Massage chair maker Rongtai commits ¥250M to new fund in its biggest LP bet
What's the deal? Rongtai HealthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the leading massage chair manufacturer listed on China's A-share market, will co-establish a 500 million yuan fund, contributing 250 million yuan in cash for a 49.90% stake. The vehicle, tentatively named Feike Rongtai Investment Fund (Suzhou), pairs Rongtai with Shanghai Feike Investment, an affiliate of razor brand Feike, as an equal LP. Kane Capital holds a 0.20% stake as general partner.
Why it matters: This is the largest single LP capital contribution in Rongtai's history since its 2017 listing. The company has allocated half of its on-book funds to the primary market.
What's the endgame? The fund runs for eight years, extendable to 10, and targets strategic emerging industries such as advanced manufacturing, high-end equipment, and smart hardware. It prioritises hard-technology projects tied to intelligent manufacturing. Rongtai holds a veto right on the investment committee, letting it shape the full lifecycle of projects.
The players: Rongtai, founded in 1997, sells its "Rongtai" brand into the mid-to-high-end market and "Momoda" into entry-level. As of 2023, it had sold over 2.8 million massage chairs globally, ran about 1,000 offline stores across China, and exported to more than 130 countries through the ODM model.
What could go wrong? The push into investing comes as massage chairs sell poorly. Committing half its cash to a long-dated, hardware-focused fund concentrates risk in a segment far from the company's core, with returns tied up for up to a decade.
The signal: Two consumer appliance leaders — one in massage chairs, one in razors — sitting side by side as LPs is rare. It reflects a broader trend of Chinese manufacturers turning surplus cash into strategic capital, chasing hard-technology exposure as their own consumer markets soften.
Read more: 36Kr
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
